Emmerdale star Kim Thomson has confirmed that she is to leave the soap at the end of her current contract.

The actress will film her final scenes for the Yorkshire serial within the next couple of months after playing the role of Faye Lamb since early 2009.

Speaking of her decision to bow out, Thomson told Take It Easy: "I'm sad of course because I've loved working with everyone here, but I found it so hard being away from home. It's just too far from London.

"I've got friends I literally haven't seen for two years because I get home at weekends and there's only a 24-hour window to fit everyone in. That's been hard, but I've had an amazing time here and been so lucky with storylines - I'll be sad to go.

"I can't say anything about how I leave because the producers want to keep that under wraps for now. I'm sure, as with most Emmerdale exits, it will be dramatic."

Asked what she will miss most about Emmerdale, Thomson replied: "I think, as with everything, you miss the people. They're a lovely crowd, great crew and actors and it's been a pleasure working with them.

"It's also been great fun to do something where it's all a bit heightened and you get to go around slapping other women - and there was a lot of slapping. I've enjoyed being the slappee and the slapper!"

Faye's most memorable storyline saw her involved in a long-running love triangle with her bigamist husband Mark Wylde (Maxwell Caulfield) and his second wife Natasha (Amanda Donohoe).

More recently, she has been stirring up trouble for Charity Dingle's (Emma Atkins) relationship after growing increasingly frustrated by her close bond with Jai Sharma (Chris Bisson).